Apparatus for bending pipe



April 21, 1970 w. J. FISHER 3 07,

' APPARATUS FOR BENDING PIPE v Filed Feb. 14, 1968" v 2 Sheets-Sfieet 1 I I I in. i V

United States Patent 3,507,141 APPARATUS FOR BENDING PIPE William J. Fisher, Lisle, Ill., assignor of one-half to Gerson Electric Construction Company, Chicago, Ill.

Filed Feb. 14, 1968, Ser. No. 705,433 Int. Cl. B21d 9/05 US. Cl. 72-389 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for bending pipe so as to produce a lateral offset in a straight pipe.

A problem has long existed in the building construction industry particularly with respect to the electrical conduit installed in the building. In modern building construction, electrical conduit is positioned above the concrete floor forms and the floor is subsequently poured securing the conduit therein. The conduit is laid so as to project upwardly from the floor in those locations at which a wall is to be built, the free end of the conduit being adapted to receive an electrical wall receptacle. Due to various difiiculties, the upwardly projecting portion of the conduit is not usually properly positioned with respect to the wall surface so that the receptacle attached thereto is not flush with the wall surface.

To overcome this problem, the upwardly projecting portion of the conduit has been repositioned by forming a lateral offset by hand. However, the use of hand tools often results in crimping or kinking of the pipe with deleterious structural results and oftentimes preventing an insulated electrical wire from passing therethrough. Another method of solving the above-described problem is to allow the pipe to remain in the improper position and adding an extension receptacle so that the wall outlet secured thereto will be flush with the wall. However, this solution is costly in both material and labor.

Generally, the present invention relates to an apparatus for bending pipe comprising a base, an upright standard secured to the base, a lower pipe support member mounted on the base and adapted to engage one side of a pipe at one longitudinal portion thereof, an upper pipe support member adapted to engage the same side of the pipe at a spaced apart longitudinal portion thereof, a saddle block adapted to engage the opposite side of the pipe at an intermediate longitudinal portion thereof, means for slidably supporting said saddle block, and means for laterally moving said saddle block so as to produce an offset in said pipe.

Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide a pipe bending apparatus that avoids all of the foregoing disadvantages which inhered in prior art solutions for the above-described problem.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pipe bending apparatus which will uniformly and easily produce a lateral offset in an upstanding pipe secured in a floor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pipe bending apparatus which will secure one longitudinal portion of a pipe and produce a lateral oiiset therein without collapsing or crimping the pipe.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a pipe bending apparatus which is inexpensive to manufacture and maintain, is durable and easy to operate and which can accommodate pipes of varying size.

Other objects of this invention will be readily apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the appended drawings.

1n the drawings:

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FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of one prior art solution to the problem of improperly positioned electrical pipe secured in a concrete floor;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of the solution of the same problem shown in FIGURE 1 represented by the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation view of one embodiment of a pipe bending apparatus, constructed in accordance with the present invention, showing the movable elements as positioned at the end of the operation in phantom lines;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the pipe bending apparatus shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation view of another embodiment of a pipe bending apparatus, constructed in accordance with the present invention, showing a portion of the movable elements as positioned at the end of the operation in phantom lines;

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view of the pipe bending apparatus shown in FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a detail side elevation view of a portion of a pipe bending apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 9 is a top plan sectional view taken along the line 99 of FIGURE 8; and

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of the pipe securing member shown in FIGURES 8 and 9.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 2, wherein like reference numerals designate like parts, there is shown a concrete floor 20 and an upstanding vertical electrical conduit 22. An electrical outlet box 24 is mounted on the upper end of conduit 22 prior to immersing the conduit and box in a vertical wall 26. It will be seen that the conduit 22 is not properly positioned with respect to the wall surface, and that the plaster ring 28, if mounted directly on box 24 will not be flush with wall surface 30. To correct this difliculty, one prior art method, illustrated in FIGURE 1, was to mount an additional outlet box 32 onto box 24 and then mount plaster ring 28 thereon. In practice, it is obvious that the latter impositioning would not always be equal to the width of one outlet box, and consequently the conduit would be bent by hand tools resulting in crimped or kinked conduit.

In FIGURE 2., conduit 22 will be seen to have been bent so as to provide a lateral offset of the required extent, obviating the need for a second outlet box and precisely positioning the outlet 24 so that the plaster ring 28 will be flush with wall surface 30. It should be noted that outlet box 24 must be vertically mounted so as to be parallel with the wall surface 30, and that therefore the upper end of conduit 20 must also be vertical to provide correct mounting of the box. It will thus be clear that simply bending conduit 22 in an are or at the floor surface will not allow for proper mounting of the outlet box and plaster ring.

While the present invention was conceived in conjunction with the above-described problem, it will become clear from the following description that the invention is considerably broader in its potential application.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, there is shown one embodiment of a pipe bending apparatus comprising a base or frame 42 including a longitudinally extending member 44 having a rear foot 46 so as to slightly elevate one end of member 44 from concrete floor 48. An operator may secure base 42 to the floor by simply stepping upon one end of the base member 44 or foot 46.

An upright standard 50 is fixedly secured to base member 44 at approximately one-tenth the distance from one end. A support member 51 is mounted between base member 44 and standard 50. Projecting rearwardly from one end of standard is a tab 52 for reasons to be explained hereinafter. In the upper end of upright standard 50 is mounted an upper pipe support member, designated generally by the reference numeral 54. Support member 54 comprises a C-shaped member 56 mounted on a threaded shaft 58 secured in the standard for lateral selective adjustment.

A lower pipe support member 60 is mounted at the forward end of base 42. Support member 60 comprises a curved member 62 having its lower end 64 affixed to base 42, and its upper end 66 secured to standard 50 at a point vertically spaced from base 42. It will be seen that lower end 64 of curved member 62 projects below the bottom surface of base member 44 so as to provide a forward foot for the base and for further reasons to be explained hereinafter. Curved member 62 has an arcuate cross-section, as seen best in FIGURE 9, for engaging one side of pipe 68.

A saddle block 70 having an arcuate cross-section, as seen best in FIGURE 4, and a vertical arcuately shaped contact surface 72, is pivotally secured to a. saddle 'block support member 74 through fasteners 76E. Near the opposite end of support member 74, is fixedly mounted a vertically extending horizontal position stop 76 adapted to contact tab 52 of upright standard 50. As seen in FIGURE 4, support member 74 comprises a pair of arms 78, 80.

Means for laterally moving saddle block 70 and saddle block support member 74 is generally indicated by reference numeral 82. Means 82. comprises a substantially longitudinally extending member 84 pivotally secured at its lower end to base-upright support member '51 through fasteners 86 and pivotally secured at an intermediate portion to the end of saddle block support member 74 through fasteners 88. A longitudinally extending bar 90 is secured to the upper end of member 84 and has a handle 92 mounted on the free end thereof.

In operation, pipe bending apparatus 40 is placed on concrete floor 48 with the lower end 64 of lower pipe support member 60 firmly abutting a lower longitudinal portion 94 against one side of pipe 68 and saddle block 70 firmly abutting the other side of pipe 68 at an intermediate portion 96 thereof. Saddle block support member 74 is positioned so that stop 76 abuts tab 52 of standard 50 and thereby assumes a horizontal position. An operator pulls upon handle 92 laterally moving saddle block 70 so as to bend pipe 68 initially at lower longitudinal portion 94 forcing the pipe to conform to curved lower pipe support member 62. Further lateral movement of the handle will cause the upper longitudinal portion 98 of the pipe to contact upper pipe support member 54 so that the intermediate longitudinal portion 96 assumes a reversed curvature. The upper longitudinal portion 98 of the pipe willdthereby be forced into a vertical orientation as desire Referring now to FIGURES 6 and 7, there is shown a second embodiment of a pipe bending apparatus 100 in which like reference numerals designate like parts to those shown in FIGURES 3 through 5 referring to apparatus 40. Means for laterally moving saddle block 70 and saddle block support member 74. designated generally by the reference numeral 102, is the only sub-combination or subassembly of apparatus 100 which differs from means 82 of apparatus 40. Means 102 comprises a fixed member 104 supported by base 42 and abutting standard 50 to which is pivotally mounted a yoke 104 supporting a longitudinally extending member 106 having a handle 108-. A ratchet rack 110 is mounted to saddle block support member 74 and is supported for lateral slidable movement by means of rollers 112 rotatably mounted in fixed member 104. Pivotally mounted in yoke 104 is a tongue 114 urged in engagement with ratchet rack 110 by means of a compression spring 116.

In order to maintain saddle block 70 in contact with pipe 68 during bending of the pipe, a ratchet holding means 118 is mounted on fixed member 102. Holding means 118 comprises a stop element 120 pivotally supported near one end and has a pivotally mounted dogcatch 122 biased by spring 124 in engagement with an ear 126 on the free end of stop element 120.

In operation, pipe bending apparatus 100 is positioned abutting pipe 68 and saddle block 70 is moved laterally by an operator pulling upon handle 108. When bar 106 has been pivoted to the point so that the operator wishes to move the bar back to the vertical to obtain more leverage, holding means 118 secures rack 110 while bar 106 is pivoted and tongue 114 is re-engaged with one of the ratchet teeth.

In FIGURES 8 through 10 is shown a pipe securing ring 130 which may be used to secure a loose pipe not mounted in a floor, to the pipe bending apparatus. Ring 130 comprises a first arcuate segment 132 having an inside diameter equal to the pipe to be bent and a first inner surface 134- for abutting the pipe; and a second arcuate segment 136 having an inside diameter equal to the outer diameter of the lower pipe support member 62 and a second inner surface 138 for abutting the member 62.

In operation, the second arcuate segment 136 is positioned on the lower end of lower pipe support member extending below the lower surface of base member 44. The pipe 68 is then inserted between surface 134 of ring 130 and the outer surface of lower pipe support member 62 and is secured thereby during the bending operation. The height of securing ring 130 will be sufiicient so as to provide a firm frictional grasp upon the lower longitudinal portion of the pipe to prevent its disengagement during the bending operation.

It should be understood that the above-described means for laterally moving the saddle block are merely exemplary hand operated mechanisms and that various hydraulic or electrical power means may be provided to accomplish this function.

It is therefore obvious that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It will thus be understood, that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for bending pipe comprising:

a base,

an upright standard fixedly mounted on said base,

a lower pipe support member adapted to engage one side of a pipe at a first longitudinal portion thereof, the lower end of said support member secured to said base at a point laterally spaced from said upright standard,

an upper pipe support member adapted to engage the same side of the pipe after bending at a second longitudinal portion thereof, laterally adjustably mounted in said upright standard,

a saddle block adapted to engage the opposite side of the pipe at an intermediate longitudinal portion thereof,

means supporting said saddle block laterally slidably mounted relative to said frame, and

means for moving said saddle block supporting member where-by an initially straight pipe oriented parallel to said upright and engaged on opposite sides by said saddle block and said lower pipe support member may be bent to contact said upper pipe support memher so as to produce a lateral oifset equal to the lateral distance between the lower end of said lower pipe support member and said upper pipe support member.

2. The pipe bending apparatus of claim 1 wherein said lower pipe support member comprises a curved member having its lower end secured to said base and its upper end secured to said upright standard at a point vertically spaced from said base.

3. The pipe bending apparatus of claim 2 wherein said curved member has an arcuate cross-section.

4. The pipe bending apparatus of claim 3 additionally comprising means for maintaining said saddle block supporting means in a substantially horizontal position.

5. The pipe bending apparatus of claim 4 additionally comprising means releasably mounted on the lower end of said pipe support member for securing a pipe thereto.

6. The pipe bending apparatus of claim 2 wherein said means for laterally moving said saddle block comprises a longitudinally extending handle member pivotally secured at its lower end to said base and pivotally secured to said saddle block support member at a longitudinally spaced apart point.

7. The pipe bending apparatus of claim 2 wherein said means for laterally moving said saddle block comprises a ratchet rack secured to said saddle block supportirg member, a longitudinally extending handle member pivotally secured at its lower end to said base, and a tongue 6 pivotally secured in said handle member and adapted to engage said ratchet rack so as to move said saddle block laterally.

8. The pipe bending apparatus of claim 7 additionally including resiliently mounted ratchet rack stop means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS CHARLES W. LANI-IAM, Primary Examiner G. P. CROSBY, Assistant Examiner 

